Monroe Museum

1841 horse sale

Rail cars were used by the Gainesville-Midland Railroad to compete with growing bus service and automobile ownership as roads slowly became better, and people were riding trains less often.

Ella Sue Mitchum was sixteen years old at the time she died in the Winecoff Hotel fire, 77 years ago today. She was born in Monroe, Georgia, and had moved to Gainesville with her family. She was a member of the Gainesville Baptist Church and very popular at Gainesville High School.
The Gainesville Tri-Hi-Y delegates left Gainesville on Friday, December 6, 1946, for Atlanta. They were very excited as they left for the trip. The girls checked into room 1130 the night before the fire. Ella Sue died along with three other delegates from Gainesville High School. There were 40 "Y" delegates from across the state staying in the hotel. 30 died.
Ella Sue is buried here in Monroe at Resthaven Cemetery.
The Winecoff Hotel was located on Peachtree Street and still stands today. 119 people died in the Winecoff fire. It remains today the deadliest hotel fire in American History.
You can read more here: https://winecofffire.com/ella-sue-mitchum/

In 1962, Anita Sams invited all the churches of the county to write a short article about themselves.

More photos from our Tenth Anniversary Celebration. Thanks to Elizabeth Jones.

The Monroe Museum celebrated our 10th Anniversary Tuesday night with the help of many of our friends. We all enjoyed delicious refreshments prepared by Nan O'Kelley and the Hospitality Team and served by lovely members of the DOM. Our special thanks to Kim Smith. Without Kim's organizational skills, and tireless efforts, we would be lost.

🎉 Help Us Reach 10,000 Followers by 2024! 🎉

Dear Monroe Community,

We're on the verge of a milestone, and we need YOUR help to make it happen! The Monroe Museum is just a stone's throw away from reaching 10,000 Facebook followers, and we're aiming to hit that magic number by the end of the year, in celebration of our 10-year anniversary on December 12, 2023!

Why does this matter? Because your involvement is key to making Monroe's history shine even brighter as we celebrate a decade of preserving our community's rich heritage! 🏛️✨

Here's how you can be a part of this exciting journey:

Like & Follow: If you haven't already, click that "Like" button and join the Monroe Museum family. Stay updated on upcoming events, fascinating exhibits, and exclusive behind-the-scenes peeks!

Share the Love: Help us spread the word! Share this post on your timeline and encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to join our online community. Let's bring everyone together to celebrate Monroe's vibrant history.

Tag a Friend: Know someone who loves history, culture, or just discovering hidden gems in our town? Tag them in the comments below and let them know about the Monroe Museum!

🌟 Together, let's make history and hit 10,000 followers by 2024, just in time for our 10-year anniversary! 🌟

Thank you for your incredible support. Monroe's story is a tapestry woven by each and every one of you. Let's continue this journey together!

In a photo taken in about 1918, Devera Carnes, younger daughter of photographer E. M. Carnes and his wife Ossie, stands, in her roller skates, on the steps leading from the First Baptist Church to McDaniel Street. Two houses are visible to her right in the background. The nearer one, located where Pinnacle Bank's parking lot is today was the original Monroe Home of Gov. Henry McDaniel when he returned to Monroe following the Civil War, married Hester Felker, and returned to his law practice. After serving as Governor and returning once again to Monroe, he sold this house and built what today is known as the McDaniel-Tichenor house. The house in the photo originally stood on the corner of Church and Broad but was moved back and turned after it was sold. In the far distance is the Phillips home which was also moved back not long after this photo was taken to make way for Hotel Monroe which opened in 1920 where Wells Fargo Bank stands today.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 1938, 85 years ago, the paving of the highway between Monroe and Athens was completed.

The Monroe Girls Drum & Bugle Corps appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 7 times starting in 1959!

It’s been a while since we asked this question —> Do you have any questions about something you've seen in Monroe but don't know the story behind it? Post your question in the comments.

During the Thanksgiving season, we "oldtimers" think back on what the Monroe Girls Drum and Bugle Corps meant to the girls who were a part of the organization, as well as what it meant to our town and to our state. We remember the one and only Wayne Shields, the Corps' only director over its more than three decades of performing.
But let's take a moment to remember the organization that made the Corps possible, VFW Post 4421 here in Monroe. 4421 gave time and finances to establish the Monroe Girls Corps and to insure its success.
The Girls Corp started in 1950. Hundreds of thousands of veterans had just returned from World War II, and organizations such as the VFW and the American Legion were booming. Monroe's Post 4421 was the largest VFW post in Georgia, and they were not letting any grass grow under their feet.
Here are some pictures and articles that tell a little about what they had going on.

Here is a link shared by Lynn Lance to a page that gives a great deal of great information about the Monroe girls corps. Ken Mazur came to the Monroe Museum several years ago, met and played snare drums with Joan Peters. 

1950s Monroe Girls Corps | Mysite 1 Records indicated a female won VFW Nationals two years before Rita Macy wn in 1956, beating her boyfriend from St. Vincents Cadets at that time who took second. No one even had a name for the corps. Who were the Monroe Girls? I called their old VFW sponsor post. They had no clue. One question l...

The safe from the High Shoals Manufacturing Company sits in the foyer of the Monroe Museum complete with axe marks where people tried to break into it. It carries the date June 1, 1843, two years before the mill opened. I assume this is a patent date.

Monroe semi-pro baseball!

In 1933, Frances Perkins, Franklin Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, and a native Bostonian, said in a speech that if the wages of the Southern mill workers could be raised to a level where they could afford shoes it would do wonders for the mass production system and bring great prosperity to the country.

Ernest Camp, Monroe's accepted poet laureate of the period, in his AUTUMN ANTHEMS collection of writings had this reply for Mrs. Perkins, and as stated, for President Roosevelt also.

This year, we have divided our Veterans' Tribute into two posts.

Did you know?

Governor Henry McDaniel helped author the creation of the Georgia Railroad Commission in 1879. 🚂 This commission regulated railroad passenger and freight rates. 💰

Stop by and visit us sometime to find out more about the history of the Governor and his family. 🏡

Visit our website to learn more or call 770.267.5602 to schedule a free tour.

From Malinda's Recipe Collection. With love, the Bill Smith Family.

Let us know if you give this one a try, and how it turns out!

Things come and go: newspapers from 1950 and 1969

First Annual Historic Hustle 5K in Monroe hosted by the Historical Society of Walton County The community is invited to join The Historical Society of Walton County in a 5K/Walk in support of the Society. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023 and will be followed by an award …

Here is one page of a geography exam taken by Clara Knox (Bell) in Miss Vaughn's 7th-grade class in 1923. Clara got a 100! How well can you do? No cheating. Page 2 of your exam is coming tomorrow!

We had a busy day at the Monroe Museum today as we played host to almost 100 students, teachers, and adults from Sharon Elementary School.
They were divided into 4 groups and visited not only the museum but also The Story Shop, the Historic Courthouse, and Scoops Monroe.
All the students were very well behaved and interested as we talked about what it was like to go to school in Walton County 100 years ago.

Two pictures of the National Bank of Monroe made about 1960. The bank started life in 1890 as the Bank of Monroe, became the National Bank of Monroe in 1934, and 10-12 years after these photos it would become the National Bank of Walton County in 1972.

Good Hope General Store, 1975, Byron Adcock and friends.

Emily Burney Tichenor, wife of Henry McDaniel Tichenor (grandson of Governor Henry McDaniel):

Was instrumental in having the home placed on the National Register of Historic Places. 🇺🇸

And she teamed up with her friend and county historian, Anita Butts Sams, and helped publish a collection of civil war letters of Governor McDaniel to his fiance, Hester Felker, under the title of "With Unabated Trust." 📖

Visit our website to learn more about the history of this family and home. 🏡

For those who enjoy dining out, here are the restaurant listings from some of the old Monroe phone books the Monroe Museum has.

Another great group for our second North Monroe History Walk on Sunday afternoon. You may wonder why everyone is looking at their phone. We use a QR code to give our walkers access to photos of the things we are learning about. So if we are talking about the Davis-Edwards house, they have a picture of what the house once looked like on their phone.

Do you remember? Monroe good food and fine dining at its best.

I am repeating the North Monroe History Walk this Sunday, October 29th, starting at 3 PM. If you would like to walk with us, please email me at:
[email protected] for the details
IT IS FREE

A Preserve & Serve Georgia Project Protecting Rights & Preserving Heritage Established in 1868, Zion Hill Cemetery, a historic African American Baptist Burial Site in Monroe, Georgia, fell into a state of abandonment. For decades, land surrounding the site was developed and the cemetery, comprised of mostly unmarked graves, became ov...

Walton Guards, Co. D, 3rd Infantry, National Guard of Georgia, standing at ease on Court Street about 1910. The officer center front can be identified as J. R. Nunnally. The other 2 are thought to be Albert B. Mobley and John T. Aycock. Behind the group we can see, what at that time, was the City Park behind the courthouse.